Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by ChimRichels:

A - Pretty clear, but also pretty dark. I can just barely see through the glass. Body is a deep brown, hints of maroon/ruby. Beige head is a good two fingers that leaves a good coat of lacing all the way to to the bottom.

S - Definitely malt-forward. Brown sugar and caramel are prominent, as well as some sweet fruits. Sweetened dried cherries come to mind, as well as raisins or dates.

T - Not as sweet as I was expecting from the nose as a lot more of the toasted grain and biscuit flavors are more assertive. The brown sugar is still there, providing a touch of sweetness. Hop presence takes backseat, with just a touch of resinous bitterness on the finish.

M - Body is pretty medium, although I would say it is leaning toward viscous. Carbonation mild and sufficient.

O - I like this beer a lot, it is a refreshing change of pace from the hop monsters I have been pounding down as of late. It reminds me a lot of an English-style Barleywine, just tuned down a notch.

More User Reviews:

Dark sugar nose, light fruit, molasses with some spice. Pours clear dark amber with a 1” very finely bubbled, lightly tan tinted white foam cap that leaves rich lace. The beer is clean with no particles or sediment floating in the body. A big malty palate with a malt spiciness that suggests cola and anise and yeast driven fruit flavors, primarily plum or other dark red fruit. A big bitter finish answers a malty sweet beginning. In the end, malt, yeast, hops, and alcohol come into balance. A pleasant alcohol warming on the finish hints at the amount of alcohol in the beer. The beer is big and chewy, almost oily, with a moderate carbonation.

Poured a gorgeous clear reddish brown body with a half-finger of off-white head. A very appealing looking rich strong ale. Scents of rich malt, caramel, dark fruit with notes of plum, red cherry, prune and raisin, candied, liquor-soaked fruit and fruitcake. Cherry predominates the fruit aromas with a bready malt aroma also present and hints of brown sugar. Overall impression of aroma is of a sweet, rich, malty beer with a nice rich fruitcake-like aroma lent by the alcohol and the profile of the fruity esters. Quite nice and very appealing as a Winter ale. Flavor begins sweet and malty with notes of caramel, sweet bready malt, fruitcake, cherry, raisin and prune. The middle opens up flavors of alcohol and light chocolate malt flavors. Finish is medium-sweet, with notes of alcohol and dark fruit, with further notes of fruitcake and preserved fruit, but with a light bitterness from roast and toasted malt lending a roasted malt and slightly burnt toast flavor and hints of dark chocolate. Aftertaste is lightly bitter with notes of alcohol, dark chocolate, black coffee and roasted malt. Overall impression of flavor is of a very malt-forward, dark fruit heavy, sweet initial flavor, giving way to a bitter finish that keeps the beer from being cloying. Very nice, warming and pleasant, a good ale for a cold Winter night. Mouthfeel is medium-heavy bodied with medium-light carbonation and a sticky, rich feel. Overall impression of mouthfeel is of a good strong ale, warming, rich and full, but not overwhelming. Overall this is a fantastic strong ale. It has a wonderfully rich and sweet aroma that is a wonderful mix of malt and esters. This carries over into the flavor but is aided by roast malt lending a richer, deeper, darker flavor. The mouthfeel is a nice balance between rich and full, and modest and drinkable. A very fine ale all around and well worth drinking.

I am continuing with my bottle purge and when a friend said that he wanted to come over and say goodbye before heading off to graduate school at U of FL, I decided to break out something big and hairy.

From the bottle: "Perihelial Release"; "Here's Lookin' Atcha!"; "Lagunitas Brewing Company wish you and yours all the best as together we enter the new year. Thanks for your trust and support and we'll keep an eye out for you!"; "91,400,000 miles"; "Laying there, starting up at the ceiling, head pounding last night was a dim recollection. How did he get home? Was he alone? Looking to the left and right, the answer was yes, maybe. His head was full of 'rag water, bitters and blue ruin'. His teeth felt like he'd been chewing aluminum and his breath smelled like a burning tractor tire. There was a wrenching knot somewhere between his liver and east St. Louis and he couldn't be sure whether or not he'd wet himself. A yellow sine wave rang in his ears so loud it made his teeth itch and he was sure that if he touched his skin anywhere it would induce a rhythmic retching jag. Even in the face of all that, he found himself smiling at the realization that today represented the fresh breast of a new year - an undiscovered country - and also that there was still one warm, half-full, half-flat redolent Hairy Eyeball on the nightstand. Yes - there is a God. Call us sometime! 1.707.769.4495. Cheers!"

My pour produced a brief finger of light-tan head that quickly fell to wisps. Nose was kind of boozy with a strong dried dark fruitiness, like prunes, raisins and dates. Color was a Coppery-Brown (SRM = > 17, < 22) with NE-quality clarity. Mouthfeel was medium. The first thing that I noticed after taking a sip was the intense fusel alcohol heat. The second thing was the extreme fruitiness and maltiness that came right behind it, reminiscent of a holiday fruitcake. Finish was warm, not outright hot, and incredibly fruity.

Taste is also smooth, no booziness, flavors are malt, but not overly sweet. Main flavors are toffee, bread, toast; hops are more amplified in the mouth, but still clean, grassy, not overpowering. this is an amazing taste quality at 9+% abv.

Mouthfeel is exceptional, very balanced, not lingering sweetness that is cloying, solid clean bitterness to cap of the tasting.

Overall, an exceptionally smooth, full flavored ale that is deceiving in its strength. Great pick for the coldest day of the year.

I know I gave the hairy eyeball to this one years ago. It's a huge beer, full of wonderful character and loads of alcohol.

It is a thing to behold in the glass. Reddish with loads of head and lace. The aroma is a strong mish-mash of malts. hops and a dirty yeast. Complex.

The taste is thick. Malty for sure, but with loads of hops to balance that and make it work. It is a busy taste. The malt will get you if you drink it too fast, like I am. All that taste almost buries the alcohol, but if you don't know that a malty, thick ale like this is full of booze you are in for a surprise.

There were some interesting comments in other reviews. No, ageing this would not make it mellow. It would get too sweet. The comment that it is like a fully realized ESB is right on. Americanized. As usual with Lagunitas, this is very worthwhile. Get it while you can.

Poured into a Duvel Tulip. Head was small and rough. Had a very beautiful red-brown hue! Aromas... some maltiness, subdued spicyness, nice hop aroma. Taste...I would describe this as a fusion between an imperial IPA (though nice quite as hoppy) and a milder Belgian Triple. This sounds like it wouldn't work, but it does in this case. Very good, and very drinkable, and original! Try it if you can find it.

Bottle says Perihelial release. 8.8% by volume. Appears to be a New Years relase judging from a story on the side label.

I love Lagunitas and I've been on a Strong Ale kick so this was a win-win for me.

A - Ruby, brown color that is quite striking. Clear with a coarse white head and nice lacing.

S - A very rich character with malt, toffee, some hops, and some dark fruit present. This is a very complex aroma with some alcohol and caramel in the background. It has a traditional ESB, fruity yeast character but to the next level.

T - Matching the smells, the flavor is even more complex with tons of depth. I sense an american brown but with more hops, no chocolate character, and a strong toasted sugar flavor. The fruity yeast and hops are more predominant on the tongue with the malty, grainy, and toffee flavors mixing well together. There is a bitterness but it is in no way dominant and only lends a compliment to the rich malt character.

M - Full mouth-feel with light carbonation. It's lightly syrupy but isn't cloying with some residual bitterness and you can feel that it's alcohol level and attenuation are spot on to make this beer a winner.

Overall, a really delicious beer and definitely the best non-oaked strong ale I've had. This beer is a perfect winter warmer without too much palate punching but enough flavor to keep me admiring the glass. If you find this beer and like a robust strong ale this is a must try.

Poured from a 22 oz bottle into a pint glass.Appearance: Dark crimson in color. Clear, no sediments. Pillowy cream colored head which lasted throughout the session. Nice lacing.

Aroma: Malty, fruity, hoppy. It almost smells like those cans of mixed fruit saturated in a bottle of Malta.

Taste: Malt sweetness up front followed by a pleasant bitterness that prevents this from being just another run of the mill malt bomb. Faint fruit taste is present. Hard to make out though, maybe peach? Caramel and molasses or maybe maple syrup is present also. A boozy heat permeates the mouth with every sip, especially when the beer reaches room temperature. The bitter aftertaste is really pleasant for this beer.

Mouthfeel: Light, not heavy at all. Slight carbonation in the beginning but it fades very quick. Goes down easy, especially for an 8+ brew.

This is a good winter warmer. Not the best but for a 22 oz bottle it'll surely get the job done. It has a good balance of sweetness and bitterness. It's almost like a cross between a dunkel and a bitter IPA.

Poured into a nonic a deep ruby color with a dark brownish tint a quick to form one finger slight off white head atop,great balance and complexity in the nose deep brown sugar and alcohol dipped dark fruit intertwined with spicey/grassy hop really trying to hold up to the malt...advantage malt but a close call.Big and warming with great flavor and balance gummy,juicy malt with that brown sugar and raisin-like quality finishing resiny and piney inducing great hop burps.I love these kind of big American brews insanely balanced,big and bold with great complexity,Lagunitas rocks!

Appearance  Clear but very dark ruby black in color with a monstrous head that must be respected (else you will be cleaning up your floor). The head is big, beautiful, and tan, with good retention and some cool lacing.

Smell  Oh, mama, this one is big. The huge, caramel malts are just the start. Youve got brown shugga types of sugars here along with some oaky notes and a light hop balance.

Taste  This is heavy-duty from start to finish but also quite smooth. The huge sweetened malts from the nose come out in the taste like they were aged a few years in American oak barrels. Theres a subtle hint of bourbon as well.

Mouthfeel  Exceptionally smooth and full-bodied, this one will get your lips smacking and your salivary glands watering. My mouth is sticky from tasting this ale. It is big and chewy.

Drinkability  This is an excellent effort at the style from Lagunitas. It is velvety smooth, strong but not excessive, and goes down amazingly well for a nearly 9.0 ABV BW.

Update  I originally rated this with an 03 vintage so thought it would be interesting to review it again with an 04 (drank in Jan 05). This really is an easy-drinker, and the big sugary malts make it dead-on for the style. Well done, Lagunitas!

Smells sweet and fruity. Mostly citrus and malt, but definitely some tropical overtones.

Taste is robust and definitely packs an alcohol wallop. There's even a slight burn. Mouthfeel is nicely carbonated and light, despite the heavy alcohol. Lots of sweet malt, some grapefruit hops, and tons of juicy citrus and tropical fruit.

A: A dark copper ale with good clarity. The head is long lasting but thin made of tan, creamy and soapy bubbles that leave a fine lacing on the glass.

A: There is a medium malt aroma with some cherries and a spicy note. There is a caramel aroma that reminds me of kettle caramelization that is found in Scotch Ales. A slight phenolic kind of spicy note.

T: There is a lot of malt and toffee flavors with a restrained, medium amount of malt sweetness. Not much in the way of hops flavor but a medium hops bitterness baking for a balance that is tilted towards the sweet side of the scale. The finish is off-sweet with a quick citrus hops flavor and a little hops bitterness but mostly a malty, caramel sweetness aftertaste.

M: A medium full bodied beer with a medium-low level of carbonation.

O: It's sort of an American version of an old ale with a prominent malt presence but a firm hops bitterness.

Poured a very viscous amber with virtually no head on it. Had the look of a high alcohol barleywine. Smelled cherries, wood, and maybe a little nuttiness right off the bat. Was expecting that same flavor of cherries but it was lacking a little. Very woody and caramel flavor with little bit of a bourbon(very light) feel. Malty backbone came through for a good balance with a clittle bit of citrus hops. Mouthfeel was fairly slick and oily but not over the top. I enjoyed this beer and it certainly didn't feel like 9%. I enjoyed this beer and would drink it again but didn't think it was spectacular.

A - Very dark mahogany, very clear, but so dark it is barely translucent. Small off-white head, barely remember what it looked like because it was gone in seconds leaving just a lacing.

S - Roasted malts, nice chocolate smell. That's about it and it is good enough.

T - Much like the smell there is a good amount of cocoa/chocolate flavor coming through. Nice roasted flavor as it finishes along with some hop bitterness for balance.

M - Smooth and rich feel. Finishes with some alcohol warmth and the carbonation helps it not feel to thick.

D - This is just a really good beer. Lots of malt flavor, especially chocolate. A nice bitter, clean, chocolate finish with a hint of alcohol warmth. Very nice on a cold night after shoveling some snow.